If Only
by toledo girl
Summary: Margaret and Mandy are sisters, but don't act like it any more since Margaret has been home from Korea. I guess maybe more of a moral story.


**This story is dedicated to two people who are sisters. They used to be great friends and have been fighting for a while, but I know that they'd both be happier if they were friends again.**

Margaret sat and stared out the window as it softly snowed out. About five years had passed since she had come home from Korea. She was now married to Hawkeye and had a three year old daughter named Annie. The next day was Christmas Eve and they were going to head over to Daniel's house. It often made her a little jealous to see his family together. They got along, they seemed to be happy to be together. They stuck together on things. Her family on the other hand barely even seemed to exist. Her parents fought all the time and her younger sister Mandy had been bitter since her husband had left her. The only one that she could talk to was her father, but even then she felt she had to impress him. She felt more like she belonged with the Pierces. Daniel treated her like his own daughter and every one was happy to see her every year.

She started to think about how her and Mandy got along before she left.

"_No!" Mandy said laughing. "Just because I think he's cute doesn't mean I'll date him. There's a lot more to it than that," Mandy said. _

"_Not with you there isn't" Margaret said. Margaret sat back and smiled. "You know, I'm going to miss you. I really am," she said as she put her arm around Mandy._

_Mandy looked back at her. "I'll miss you to. But hey, we can't be apart for that long," she said. _

Margaret's eyes began to water up as she thought about her wedding day.

"_Mandy! I did ask you to be the maid of honor! You were the one who told me that you weren't even going to come!" Margaret yelled._

"_So instead you ask a stranger?" Mandy asked._

"_Peg Hunnicutt happens to be more like a sister to me than you have been for the last couple of months!" Margaret yelled._

"_Fine! See if I ever even speak to you again!" Mandy yelled. _

"How could we possibly go from being best friends to worst enemies?" she asked herself as she sat back in her chair. She then looked over at Annie and Hawkeye who had fallen asleep on the couch together.

"_Now that you're all here, I have something to tell you. The woman you knew as Major Houlihan, is now, what would be in Hawkeye's own words, having a minor," she said with pure happiness. Hawkeye's eyes widened as he jumped up and kissed her. The entire group from the 4077th was there, except for Frank since he had his own bitter feelings towards them. Every one congratulated her and then the women decided to throw her a baby shower._

Her smile suddenly turned to a frown.

"_So, what's this news you had to tell me?" Mandy asked trying to rush her along._

"_I'm pregnant!" she announced with a child like excitement._

"_Okay," Mandy said completely shrugging it off as nothing. _

Margaret sighed. "And to think that you could've had an older brother or sister," she said.

"_Mandy, I know you're angry at me, but I don't know why. Could you please tell me? I need to talk to you," she said crying into the phone._

"_Alright, what is it already?" Mandy asked getting annoyed. _

"_I lost it. I lost the baby," she said. _

"_So? It's not like you're very nurturing anyways," Mandy said. _

Margaret got up and pulled a blanket over her husband and daughter. She then slowly made her way up to her bed and laid down. Tears were now streaming her face as she hugged the pillow next to her. She knew that tomorrow was going to be one of the hardest days of her life to get through.

"Mommy?"

Margaret slightly opened her eyes to see the small blonde standing beside the bed. "Hi sweetie," she said as she looked over at the clock. It was nine in the morning and they were leaving to go see her family in an hour. "I've got to get ready to leave. Did daddy already get you your breakfast?" she asked as she sat up. The young girl nodded.

"Where we going?' she asked.

"To your aunt's house and then to your grandpa's house," Margaret said.

"Why don't we just see Aunt Hannah at grandpa's house?" Annie asked looking as if she were really giving that a lot of thought.

"It's not your Aunt Hannah that we're going to see. It's my sister, Aunt Mandy," Margaret said.

Annie stared at her with the same look. "Who is she?" Annie asked.

Margaret didn't exactly know why, but she felt guilty about the fact that her daughter didn't know that Mandy even existed. There was no reason to feel guilty. Mandy herself had been mean to Margaret and stopped caring. She was the one who snubbed Annie and ignored her. "My sister, you'll be able to meet her today," she said. Margaret was starting to wonder if having her daughter and sister in the same room was really a good idea.

Margaret continued to get up and get ready. She then headed to the airport to get her sister who had already gotten herself a hotel room. She also got her father who would be staying with them. The ride home was uncomfortable for everyone. Once they got to her house, they each got out and went into the house.

So far so good, she thought to herself as she opened the door.

"Hey there little girl!" Alvin said as he stepped in and saw Annie. The little girl ran over to him and hugged him.

"Hi grandpa," she said.

"Hey there my little soldier," he said as he picked her up.

Mandy stood by the door as she held onto her suitcase. All she did was stare. The more that Margaret thought about it, it was more like a glare. It was as if that was the only thing that she could do.

"Hello Mandy," Hawkeye said. Margaret looked back at him. Right now she thought he was crazy, but then again, neither of them were going to start talking.

"Hi," she coldly replied. Her eyes cast a cold glare upon him as he waited to see what she was going to do.

"Do you want to say hello to Annie? I think she might be excited to show you some of her artwork," Margaret said.

"Why? I'm sure there's nothing special about it," she said.

Alvin turned and glared at his daughter. "Mandy!" he snapped. "You were invited to come and celebrate! Can't you behave yourself? You're a grown woman! Act like it!"

Mandy turned and looked away.

"Can I have a moment alone with my sister?" Margaret asked. Hawkeye grabbed Margaret's shoulder and looked over at her. She grabbed his hand and gave him a reassuring look. Once she let got, he followed every one else out.

Margaret walked over and stood by Mandy. It had been a long time since she had actually been with Mandy. The last few times had just been over the phone. Now instead of just hearing the cold and distant voice, she could see the cold and distant face to go along with it. "Mandy?" Margaret asked finally getting her to actually look up at her. "Why? Why are you so bitter towards me? It's not even the fact that you're mad at me that bothers me! But the fact that you're willing to take it out on a little girl!" Margaret said.

Mandy looked up at her. Something in her eyes had softened, but there was still a look of bitterness to her. "You're just upset because it's your little girl. You wouldn't have given a damn if it were any one else's," she said.

"The fact that she IS my daughter does add to my concern, but that doesn't mean that I wouldn't care if you just started going up to random children and chewing them out," Margaret said.

"I didn't chew her out! I merely made a comment," Mandy said in defense.

"Yeah, but you would have it I would have given you the chance," Margaret said.

They were both silent as Margaret waited for Mandy to say something. Apparently that wasn't going to happen. All she did was stare off to the right. "Why are mad at me?" Margaret asked. Mandy just looked at her and raised her eyebrows. "Why? I have tried to reach you. I have tried to understand, I've tried to be forgiving and I've even tried to face you. Why won't you just let me help you? We used to be friends," Margaret said. "Don't you want that back?" she asked.

"Right, we used to be friends. Heck, we used to be great friends. YOU used to be used to be an over worked nurse who only cared about pleasing her father and I used to be a care free girl. Now look at you, all you care about is your family. You would have never done something like that before you left. Now look at me, I would have never have gotten as jealous and angry as I am now, but we've both changed. Why can't you realize that everything is always changing, including people and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it?" Mandy asked.

"Just because you change doesn't mean you have to be angry," Margaret argued.

"Well maybe it's what ruined my life," she said and then walked out the door.

Margaret stood standing there. Her eyes watered up while her lip started to quiver. Thirty years of being best friends and it was all down the drain. The worst part was that she didn't know why. She knew that she had been divorced, but she didn't seem to care at the time. It also hurt to see her suffering and not being allowed to help. All she wanted to do was to at least talk to her, but she knew that that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. As a matter of fact, it was a month later that they finally talked again. Mandy had fallen ill and was in the hospital. Margaret went and they made up. It was the day after they stopped fighting that Mandy had died. All that time that they could have had together was wasted over jealousy and anger towards each other. All the chances in the world, and they missed it.

**Just in case you were wondering, this is loosely based on what is going on between the two. Both are still alive, but they have been fighting for the past ten years. I know this is a dramatic switch, but I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. **


End file.
